Paleoary (that's an all-Paleo January)

After losing 15 pounds the first time I did the strict month of Paleo, I kept most of it off in the following few months by keeping to a 'mostly' Paleo diet. As the holidays came and went, the 'mostly' became 'mostly not' and the scale showed it. More importantly, I felt icky. 

So January is my second strict month of Paleo. Yesterday was Day 1, and although I had two meals and they were both at restaurants I managed to stick with it (this of course is pretending they don't secretly load butter and/or other un-Paleo ingredients into my food). 

Brunch:

Tomato, onion and mushroom omelette with no cheese
Side of fruit
Black coffee
No home fries, no toast

Dinner:

Chicken BLT flatbread sandwich with avocado, which I removed from the bread
Side of salad instead of fries
Water

This morning I woke up starving and had to scavenge through my empty fridge. I came up with an ounce of pepperoni, some mushrooms and 2 scrambled eggs. Not awful!

Now it's time to plan and go grocery shopping because the next thing I eat is a spoonful of coconut oil and/or the cats.

Delicious happenins up in hurrrrrr....

The Players

First at bat: Paleo "Chicken Alfredo"

Listen...here's my beef with "Paleo ____ (fill-in-the blank)" recipes. They're never the same, so why bother? Did that taste like chicken pasta Alfredo? OF COURSE NOT. Without pasta, cream and a buttload of cheese, that's impossible. So you take the time to make this meal, having visions of creamy Alfredo sauce dancing in your head, only to be disappointed at the end when the meal tastes absolutely nothing like its namesake.

However, this dish, which is made with chicken, spaghetti squash, delicata or butternut squash, coconut milk and bacon...was delicious. It was creamy, rich, decadent even. If I were to make it again, I'd probably add a pinch of nutmeg to it. Fancy that shit up, yo.

The gist of the recipe (original found on paleomg.com)

• Bake chicken tenders and spaghetti squash together in the oven at 425 (squash cut in half and face down, chicken drizzled with salt/pepper/pinch of oregano) for about 25 mins, give or take 5 mins (chicken will be done sooner)
• In a skillet, mix cooked butternut or delicata squash (I used leftovers from Thanksgiving) with about 3/4 cup of coconut milk and a bit of oil of your choice.
• Mash/stir that all together with some oregano, parsley, garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper over low heat
• Add your spaghetti squash and chicken (oops, I dropped some fresh parmesan in there too)
• Top with bacon
• Chow down, sucka

Cod with Leek Sauce and Sweet Potato

We will file this under things that sound gross but are delicious. I saw this recipe on a tumbler called meatified last week and I'm so glad I tried it out! Easy, fast and delicious.

I am kicking Friday's ass so far...

• Woke up, got out of bed and saw the cute little pile of cat puke just outside of my bedroom door BEFORE I stepped in it (a gift for locking them out of my bedroom for the night).

Nice try, bitches

•  Made an impromptu decision to step on the scale. I HAVE LOST JUST UNDER 10 POUNDS SINCE STARTING PALEO

Nooooo shit!

•  Cooked this delicious breakfast for myself in under 5 minutes (eggs, spinach and tomatoes sauteed with coconut oil, sliced tomato on the side)

 

• Drove all the way to work with less than no gas, hoping to save 30 cents per gallon at the Stop and Shop gas station.

Nailed it

•  I think pixelated Hulk Hogan says it best: 

 

The day I drank the Kool-Aid

A friend of mine recently started the Whole 30, which is essentially a slightly stricter version of the Paleo, or Caveman, diet. (If you are unfamiliar with this diet/philosophy, please feel free to research it on your own…I won’t be going into the whole background of it here).

I’ve been listening to her daily updates, doing some research about Paleo in general, and (as expected) getting hit with resistance, disbelief and sarcastic comments from anyone I try to speak to about trying it. I’m sure many of you who have ‘gone Paleo’ have had a similar experience. It’s not surprising, really…it’s a rather extreme concept when you’re used to eating ‘normal’ food and drinking on a regular basis.

Concurrently, I’ve been feeling for months that I’m being a complete douche to my body. Here it is, doing all of these incredible things daily to keep me alive and moving, and yet I continue to put it on the couch or my desk chair for hours on end. I do my hair and makeup and make sure my clothes are doing the best they can to camouflage any unsightly bulges or blemishes, but my insides get no such kind treatment. Instead, my muscles, lungs and heart are neglected. Rather than allowing them to work, strain and build themselves up to be even stronger, I leave them stagnant. My liver, which has so many important jobs to perform, is being taxed continuously with shit food, chemicals and more alcohol than it probably knows what to do with.  

Now, I’m far from being an earthy-crunchy environmentalist who feels the need to rage against the audacity of the government for not providing the nourishment needed to sustain a healthy lifestyle. I fully understand that choices need to be made on a personal and individual basis, and I take responsibility only for myself.

That being said, I think I’m going to drink the proverbial Kool-Aid and dive in. In one month, research tells me that my body will have refrained from using boosts of sugar or caffeine for energy. It will start to function as it was intended, and I will feel stronger and cleaner. I know it’s extreme and it will be met with resistance and debate, and for that reason I will be doing my best to keep it to myself and my blog. I will address things on an ‘as needed’ basis in social situations. I will not burden those around me with my struggles, mainly because I don’t want them to feel guilty about eating any of the things I can not. 

It’s just a month.

If I hate it, it was just a month.

A month.

Full Belly Sunday

Call it a throwback to the fifties, but on Sundays I like to cook up a nice big old fashioned meal. Last night after returning from seeing Mitch Fatel (SO FUNNY), Ryan and I came home and flipped through the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for some ideas. We picked Beef Stroganoff for dinner. For the past 4 or 5 days I have been on a major dessert binge, so I also peeked at the 'pies & tarts' section. Holy crap. I'm not a baker so normally I would avoid this section, but the treasures in that section were bountiful!!! I chose to take on the Peaches and Cream Tart, mainly because it looked so pretty in the picture. (Also, most of the pies called for an oven temperature of 375 F and our electric oven does not register numbers 6-9. The tart only needed 350.)

First off, the Beef Stroganoff. I made it mostly as the recipe called for, with the exception of replacing the sour cream with Greek yogurt on a tip from Ryan. It was very fast and easy to make (basically cooks all in one pan), but if I were to make it again I would probably flavor the beef before cooking somehow. I doubled the recipe below, and there was a ton left over.

Recipe:

12 oz boneless beef sirloin steak

1 8 oz carton sour cream (I used Greek yogurt in it's place)

2 tbsp flour

2 tsp instant beef bouillon granules

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced (I used 3)

2 tbsp butter or margarine

2 cups egg noodles

Start the water boiling for the egg noodles. Slice the beef into bite-size strips (helps if you throw it in the freezer for a bit and partially freeze it first). In a bowl mix sour cream/yogurt and flour. Stir in bouillon granules, 1/2 cup water and 1/4 tsp of black pepper. In a large skillet cook and stir the meat, mushrooms, onion and garlic in hot butter over med-high heat for 5 minutes or until desired doneness. (first picture) Add egg noodles to boiling water--they only take about 6 minutes tops to cook. Stir sour cream mixture into skillet and stir until thickened and bubbly (about 5 more minutes, second picture). Pour the mixture over the noodles to serve. (third picture)

Second, the Peaches and Cream Tart. This involved considerably more time and effort than I am accustomed to spending on a meal or dessert, but was 1000% worth it! I will make this my new go-to dessert for impressing visiting royalty. The crust was sweet and a combination of crunchy and chewy, kind of like a nice granola bar. The creamy center was sweet and tart, just enough of each. The fresh fruit on top was nice, and the glaze was only slightly sweet, not too gooey or gelatin like the tarts you find at the store.

Recipe:

9 soft coconut macaroon cookies, crumbled

1 cup ground pecans (just grind em up in the food processor)

3 tbsp butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons dark rum or orange juice (I used one of each)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

2-4 medium peaches, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced (1 1/2 to 3 cups)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

1/4 cup apricot preserves

2 tsp honey

Chill a medium mixing bowl and the beaters of an electric mixer. Meanwhile, for crust, in a bowl together stir cookie crumbs, pecans and butter. Press mixture onto bottom and up sides of a 10 to 11 inch tart pan with removable bottom or onto a 12 inch pizza pan. ( I had neither of those so I used a 9 inch round pie pan and it was fine.) Bake the crust in a 350 F oven until golden (15-20 minutes). Cool on a wire rack. For filling, beat whipping cream with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form in the chilled bowl. (First time I ever did this and it was EXCITING!) In another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until "fluffy" (I guessed at what fluffy meant, probably 3 minutes or so). Add rum, vanilla and almond extract; beat until smooth. Gently fold in whipped cream. Spoon mixture into cooled crust, spread evenly. Cover and chill for 2-4 hours. Before serving, toss peach slices with lemon juice (I peeled and prepared the peach slices just before serving). Arrange peaches and raspberries on filling in whatever pattern makes you happy. (picture #1--I tried to match the picture but soon realized that level of perfection cannot be matched. Next time I will leave that job for Ryan). For glaze, combine the preserves and honey in a small saucepan. Heat and stir until just melted, then carefully brush or spoon over the fruit (picture #2). Enjoy! (picture #3)